286 buccinid^:. 



strengthened by curved ribs or folds (like buttresses), of which 

 there are from 12 to 15 on the penultimate whorl ; top whorl 

 smooth ; the base is girded by a very large, strong, and ob- 

 liquely twisted keel : colour mostly yellowish-white, tinged 

 with reddish-brown, sometimes white banded with the latter co- 

 lour, or reddish-brown with a pink tinge and beautifully mot- 

 tled with white ; inside yellow, white, pale reddish-brown or 

 chocolate : epidermis pale brownish-yellow, rather thin, usually 

 rising into close-set laminar folds, corresponding with the 

 longitudinal striae, which form short spinous processes on the 

 spiral ridges : spire regularly tapering ; apex blunt and irre- 

 gular, or mammiform : whorls 7-8, rounded ; the last occupies 

 about two-thirds of the shell : suture deep : mouth oval, and 

 somewhat expanded ; length about one-half that of the spire : 

 canal open and deep, exhibiting outside a similar and oblique 

 notch: outer lip semicircular, flexuous, and having a large 

 sinus or bay in the middle ; it slopes outwards from the peri- 

 phery ; edge reflected and thickened in full-grown specimens ; 

 inside slightly and indistinctly grooved : inner lip broad, con- 

 sisting of a rather thick glaze on the pillar and adjacent part 

 of the body-whorl : pillar smooth and highly polished, mi- 

 croscopically freckled or pustulated by the lower fold of the 

 mantle : operculum pale brownish-yellow, rather solid, more 

 or less concave towards the nucleus ; the layers of growth are 

 laminar and numerous, resembling the epidermis in texture. 

 L. 3-25. B. 2. 



Var. 1. jlexuosa. More slender, with a produced spire ; 

 whorls apparently twisted, in consequence of the ribs being 

 obliquely curved. 



Yar. 2. littoralis (King). Yentricose ; spire shorter, and 

 body-whorl disproportionately large ; longitudinal plaits 

 strong ; throat often coffeecoloured. 



Yar. 3. paupercula. Dwarf and depauperated. 



Yar. 4. striata. Thinner than usual, with the longitudinal 

 ribs nearly obliterated. (B. striatum, Pennant, Br. Zool. iv. 

 p. 121, t. lxxiv. f. 91.) 



Yar. 5. pelagica (King). Twice the usual size, and also 

 thinner, with a longer spire and proportionally smaller mouth. 



Yar. 6. Zetlanclica (Forbes). Smaller, and of a thin and 

 delicate texture, destitute of longitudinal ribs; epidermis 

 smooth and membranous. 



Monstr. 1. sinistrorsum. Spire reversed. 2. carinatum. 



